Nur Der HSV

Yes, I got to see 1. Bundesliga Fußball. Live. It was awesome.  Yesterday afternoon, a friend and I took the train to Hamburg to see Hamburger Sport-Verein (HSV) play FC Schalke 04 at Imtech Arena.  Though we sat five rows from the top of the arena, our view of the pitch was excellent, and we were surrounded by the home fans.

Over the door to our seats: "No Access in the Colors of the Visiting Team!"

The pre-game ceremonies featured the 70th birthday party for Hermann Rieger, the retired HSV physical therapist (a position he held for 27 years).  As the players took the field, all of the home fans raised the colored paper they received on their seats, while singing the team's praises.  At the end of the song, everyone crumpled their papers and threw them skyward, like lots of blue-white-black confetti.

German fans take great pride in their seats in the stadium (the tribune, even the section).  We sat in the North Tribune, a few sections away from Section 22C, one of the rowdier fan sections (above).  They stood the whole game, and maintained an almost-continuous stream of chants, cheers, and songs.

Schalke scored first, on a header from Huntelaar in the 13th minute.  In the 38th minute, Petric evened the score for HSV.  The sold-out stadium erupted when the ball hit the back of the net.  Such a cool experience.  Despite HSV seeming to be in control for most of the game, Huntelaar scored again for Schalke in the 73rd minute, and the game ended 1:2 in favor of the visitors.

A few observations: sporting events promote smoking and drinking in general, but even more so when "your team" is struggling as much as HSV is right now.  Over the course of the game, the stadium filled with blue haze from all the cigarettes in the stands.  Free beer was even distributed (in HSV-decorated cans) outside the arena following the game.  It's amazing how deeply fans are invested in their team the team's performance, and how loyal they are despite struggles.  It was really cool to be surrounded by the home fans, and see how deeply they cared about how HSV performed.

I'm also very glad I was wearing HSV apparel, not only at the match, but also during our travels to and from the arena.  Starting at the Hamburg train station, police in full riot gear were on duty to prevent altercations between the HSV and the Schalke fans (who were, for the most part, both wearing blue).  It was also cool to be a part of the large crowd walking from the subway to the arena, all supporting the same team.  Overall, the match was an awesome experience, and I'm so glad I was able to be a part of something so important in the culture over here.